Tag Archives: memory

Birthday Cards

birthday cards

Let me hear what God the Lord will speak. —Psalm 85:8

I celebrated my birthday many weeks ago, but only recently put away the cards I had received in the mail that I had set around my house. I don’t know what the rule is about how long to leave cards out after an event, but I am tending to leave them out a little longer than I used to. I still even have some of my most favorite birthday cards set atop shelves in my office. Every time I see them, they bring joy to me. And every time I saw the birthday cards from this year set around my house in various places, they brought me renewed joy. They reminded me of the love and care of family and friends and of the gift of life of another year on this earth that God has granted me.

I wonder, “What are some ‘birthday card’ moments that bring you joy on a regular basis?” Maybe it is a photograph of a loved one or a scene from a vacation you shared with someone. Maybe it is a plaque with a quote someone gave you. Maybe it is a lamp someone picked out for you. No matter what it is, treasure that moment, that bond, that gift of love.

God puts messages of all kinds as little breadcrumbs throughout our days. Don’t ignore them. Look out for them and let them speak to you of God’s love and care for you through people close to you.

Time Reminders

picture

Facebook does a good job of reminding us of the passage of time when they show us pictures that we posted 3, 7 or 11 years ago. Seeing my “past me” can be quite jarring at times. Sometimes I can remember exactly how I was feeling at the moment that picture was taken, and other times I have little or no memory at all of the entire event, though I obviously was there.

Viewing these pictures from the past provides me with a small time of introspection. Was I happy then? Am I different now? What have I learned? The Psalmist likes to look back and reflect too.

Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for your goodness’ sake, O Lord! (Psalm 25:7).

Do not cast me off in the time of old age; do not forsake me when my strength is spent (Psalm 71:9).

Teach us to count our days that we may gain a wise heart (Psalm 90:12).

The Psalmist, like most of us, would rather God not remember our early years when we were perhaps wayward and reckless. Many a Facebook pic from the past we wish could be erased. Though Facebook may remember the errors of our ways, our God will not remember them. As the Psalmist says: “If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities, Lord, who could stand? But there is forgiveness with you, so that you may be revered” (Psalm 130:3-4).

Looking at pictures from the past may make us feel old and may make us wonder about what the future holds in our advancing years. But we need to recall that just as God was with us in these snapshots of our lives gone by, he will be with us in the picture-worthy moments of our lives yet to be. As the writer to the Hebrews says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Our God-With-Us will never forsake us, no matter what year we are in.

The pictures from the past on Facebook instantly make us want to treasure the days God has given us on this earth. We shouldn’t take a second for granted. We are truly blessed by God with experiences and interactions with others that help us to grow as his children and cherish the gift of time. Days may seem to go by faster and faster, but that does not mean that we cannot use the time well to the glory of God, by serving and loving and living for him, as Christ did.

Watch for the next Facebook memory photo to pop up and let that time reminder renew your trust in the God of All Time.

Forgive and Forget

memoryI attended a speech at Concordia Seminary here in St. Louis by renowned theologian Miroslav Volf of Yale Divinity School, Volf talked about memory and about remembering wrongs rightly. Memory, he said, has the positive functions of preventing us from encountering a bad situation in the future, protecting us from harm and even healing us. But on the flip side, memory can be used as sword to inflict pain on others or to cut ourselves off from society in an attempt at self-preservation. Memories can also bring us anger, guilt and shame.

But for Christians, Volf said, all our memories are superimposed with the death and resurrection of Christ. No matter what sin we have the memory of committing, it is washed away by the death and resurrection of Christ. No matter what wrong our minds know someone has perpetrated on us, it is permanently erased by our Savior. No matter what conflict occurred that we replay over and over again, the pain is removed by the sinless Son of God.

So we must as Christians remember wrongs rightly by recalling that all wrongdoing is forgiven by our crucified and risen Christ, who came to save not just some, but the whole world. As Christians, therefore, we are truly to forgive and forget. Even God does not remember our sins or the sins of others once they are confessed and repented of, so why should we? As God tells us, “I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more” (Hebrews 8:12). And as the psalmist says, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12). Our sins are completely cast away.

So how does remembering our wrongs rightly affect our daily living? It affects us in the ways in which we approach people. We must be eager to forgive others. We must not hold grudges. We must not let sins fester. We have too much work to do together to be sniping at each other. We must do all we can to reconcile with one another and find ways to dwell in Continue reading →